On a morning in early April, Kaede Shirakawa was standing on the top floor of the SIC building looking out at the cityscape of the Shibuya neighborhood.

Not far from the diagonal side of the road, there is a white bridge-like personality building, which is the Malaysian Embassy.

Not far from the embassy is Saigoyama Park, and with the arrival of early spring, the trees and flowers in the park are already showing signs of lushness.

Further afield, there are quaint shrines and the modern Shibuya Christian church.

It's the busiest time of the day, with pedestrians on the streets toiling for their own lives.

And all of this is seen by Kaede Shirakawa, who is standing on the top floor of the SIC building.

He loves it, he likes to stand on the top floor of the building and see all the things Shibuya has to offer.

Whenever this happens, it gives him a sense of satisfaction and control in his heart.

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, Shirakawa Kaede slowly retracted his gaze from a distance, and at this moment, there was a cup of steaming coffee in front of him.

"Would you like a drink?" Kobayashi Asuka's clear voice came from his side.

"Thank you" Shirakawa Kaede took the coffee and raised his hand to take a sip, the warm current slowly spreading from his throat.

"Still worried about Isama-san?" Asuka Kobayashi, who was wearing an OL suit, took two steps and stood side by side with him in front of the window, looking out casually.

Shirakawa Kaede smiled, and his fingers holding the coffee lightly tapped the wall of the cup, "After all, so much money has been invested, and success or failure is here." ”

In front of the rest of the SIC, Shirakawa Kaede has always been confident and open-minded.

But after all, it's too much investment, how can you not care at all.

From the construction of the building, the procurement of equipment, the recruitment of personnel, and finally the production of tape-outs, all of this adds up to more than 1 billion yen.

It is no exaggeration to say that the development of chips is the largest R&D expense among all products of Shirakawa Kaede.

If everything goes down the drain, not to mention the morale of SIC, Shirakawa Kaede alone will be extremely distressed.

After all, Shirakawa Electric's revenue is currently on a downward trend, and this trend may become the main theme of this year.

The landlord's family has no surplus food, so I hope everything goes well.

"As a well-known designer, there should be no problem with Shima-san." Asuka Kobayashi also knows about Masatoshi Shima.

She is not simply comforting Shirakawa Kaede, it is not an exaggeration to say that this Shima-san is the top master in Japan.

If you don't have any confidence in him, then there is no need for this investment.

"That's right," Shirakawa Kaede nodded, and then he raised his wrist again to look at the time.

It's almost ten o'clock, and Fujitsu should have finished tape-out.

The reason why Kaede Shirakawa didn't even go to Ota Ward today, but arrived at SIC early, was to wait for Masato Shimasato's return.

Not only that, but he also brought Asuka Kobayashi over.

At such an important moment, she must be brought with her to feel more at ease.

Whether it's joy or loss, emotions must have an object to share.

Shirakawa Kaede didn't know why Asuka Kobayashi came to mind first.

Maybe it's because she has been in her career early.

"I'm a senior and I'm about to graduate." Looking at Kobayashi Asuka outside the window, he let out a sigh that surprised Shirakawa Kaede.

"Eh, graduation?" Shirakawa Feng suddenly remembered that he still had a layer of student identity.

It's been a long time since I've been to a class at Meiji University, and Shirakawa Kaede has almost forgotten the fact that he hasn't graduated yet.

"That's just right after graduation, and in the future, the head of the personnel department of Shirakawa Electric will ask Kobayashi."

For Shirakawa Kaede, there is nothing wrong with graduation. The purpose of his coming to the university has long been accomplished, and the network is the biggest gain.

However, Asuka Kobayashi listened to Shirakawa Kaede's words, but did not smile as usual.

Instead, there was a sadness condensed between his eyebrows, and he looked out the window in a daze.

"Huh?" Shirakawa Kaede, who realized it later, turned his head and was about to ask something.

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open, "President, Shima-san, they're back!" ”

Assistant Komatsu's crisp voice was unusually clear in the spacious chairman's office.

"Yes!" Shirakawa Kaede instantly cheered up, "Xiaolin, let's go and have a look!" ”

After saying that, Shirakawa Feng took the lead and walked quickly towards the door, he had been waiting for this moment for too long.

Asuka Kobayashi by the window in the office moved her eyebrows and sighed softly, and then she also cleaned up her mood and left here quickly.

5th Floor, SIC Chip Lab.

The usually spacious and bright laboratory is crowded with people at the moment.

Everyone huddled together with their heads held high, staring at the end of the hallway.

Suddenly, the elevator door in the hallway opened, and several figures stepped out.

The leader is Masatoshi and Yamazaki Hui, and there is Shirakawa Kaede who is willing to accompany them.

"It's coming! Here it comes! The crowd unconsciously let out a loud noise.

They are all part of the SIC chip design department, and most of them are students.

Today is a big day for SIC, and even more so for them who are involved in the project.

There's nothing more exciting to look forward to than the harvest season, especially chips, the first self-contained processor chip in Japan!

So their mood is as urgent and expectant as Shirakawa Kaede.

"Shima-san!"

"Yamazaki-kun!"

"Shirakawa-san!"

All kinds of greetings, as the figure approached, also began to rise and fall.

The three people involved nodded to everyone from time to time.

The eagerness of everyone makes them feel empathy at the same time, but at the same time, they are a little stressed.

What is in Shimamasa's hands, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the hope of the whole SIC.

"Let's spread out a little, the logic test is about to be carried out, and it must not affect the progress of the test work!"

Looking at the crowded scene, in the end, Masaaki Matsumura stood up to maintain order.

No way, there are too many people. Everyone is huddled together, which affects the normal development of work.

And with Matsumura Masaaki's greeting, everyone slowly dispersed.

As a professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Matsumura Masaaki was still quite prestigious among the students, so the laboratory gradually quieted down.

But the people who went out did not leave, and everyone crowded outside the door, quietly waiting for news.

"Shima-san, Yamazaki-kun has worked hard!" It was at this time that Shirakawa Kaede had the time to greet them.

Masari held up the small dark blue shielding tape in his hand, "Fujitsu is going well for the time being, but the next is the most critical moment." ”

The production of chips does not mean that the tape-out has been successful.

The real thing is nothing more than the things on the drawings, which are made according to the plan.

What is the function of the chip core? It's a logical operation.

After powering on, it can really run successfully and there are no bugs, which is considered to be the success of tape-out, which is also the most critical step.

Hui Yamazaki and Maiichiya have turned on and debugged various test equipment, leaving them on standby.

At this time, Shimamasatoshi also put on gloves and carefully took out a small chip from the shielding tape.

Facing the light, the surface of the black shell is "SIC8081" a few light-colored prints are very clear.

On both sides of the rectangle, dense metal pins are neatly arranged.

"It's so beautiful" Shirakawa Kaede looked at this small chip with fascination, and couldn't help but let out a sigh.

And whether it was Masatoshi Shima or Masaaki Matsumura, they all nodded approvingly.

It seems that at this moment, several people are looking at a peerless beauty, not some industrial product.

"So, let's get started."

After admiring the SIC8081 appearance, Masatoshi Shima turned his head to look at Kaede Shirakawa and Masaaki Matsumura.

"Please!" Shirakawa Kaede and the others all nodded with serious faces.

Taking a deep breath, Masashi walked over to the logic analyzer and gently embedded the chip in his hand on the workbench.

After confirming that the pins and wiring of the chip were fully connected and that there were no omissions, Masatoshi Shimashima straightened up with relief.

Looking at the "RESET" button on the device at hand, Shimamasashi suddenly felt as if his fingers were weighing a thousand pounds.

As long as you press it gently, then after a few minutes, all the results will be revealed.

Hundreds of millions of yen, Masatoshi Shima turned his head and looked behind him.

Kaede Shirakawa, Masaaki Matsumura, Hui Yamazaki, and Masuiya are all waiting for him.

Holding his breath, Masatoshi raised his finger and pressed "RESET" firmly.

"Drop-!"

A long beep from the device was unusually loud in the lab, and then the lines and lines of numbers on the logic analyzer's display began to jump.

Everyone stared intently at the lines and lines, and even their breathing seemed cautious.

The other employees at the door looked even more nervous, some clenched their fists, and some gritted their teeth.

"Didi ——!" Suddenly, the numbers on the analyzer were a little confused.

Shirakawa Kaede's eyes widened, and there were even more gaping mouths in the laboratory, accompanied by wide round eyes.

No way?! Although Shirakawa Kaede didn't understand, he also knew that the logic analyzer was garbled, which was definitely not a good thing.

As for the nervous Yamazaki Hui beside him, his head was covered with sweat, his face was pale, and he seemed to be speechless.

"Drop-!"

Just when the employees outside the door were crying and mourning, the garbled display suddenly returned to normal.

Lines and rows of numbers, keep flashing, and then flowing.

Whew~ Shirakawa Kaede felt his back soaked.

This thing is also stimulating, more exciting than the opening.

This is a big business of hundreds of millions of yen, and life and death are all in one thought.

The whole logical analysis lasted for a few minutes, and there was another garbled in the middle.

Fortunately, everyone has experience and is no longer as scared as they were just now.

And the results lived up to expectations, the gibberish lasted almost only a second or two before it was quickly skipped, and everything was back to normal.

"Drop-" Finally, the green light on the device turned on, and the letter "PASS" in capital letters was reflected transparently.

"Oh yes~!" Inside and outside the lab, there was a boil.

"It's done! It's done! The excited crowd jumped and jumped around, everyone hugged each other and cheered.

Some of the excited guys even burst into tears.

Hui Yamazaki, who was so nervous just now, seemed to collapse at this moment, and sat directly on the chair, not wanting to move.

Shirakawa Kaede also breathed a sigh of relief, and Masaaki Tanimura, who was beside him, began to take the lead in applauding, and soon there was thunderous applause inside and outside the laboratory.

And the focus of everyone's attention, Masashi Shima, who was standing at the front, also slowly turned around.

(End of chapter)